"MagnaTRON" Home Theater Room With Movie Props

[VonMagnum]

I've been working on upgrading my home theater system since last August from a 6.1 system to a hybrid 11.1.6 system with Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and Auro-3D. That's 11 speakers on the floor, 1 subwoofer (for now) and 6 speakers overhead. I was originally going to put drapes along the front half of the room and movie posters in the back and then I got onto this notion of having movie props (mostly full size with a few scale ones) on the shelves under the posters and then it spilled into the front as well and even the half bathroom off the side of the theater.

Let's take a visual tour.... (click on pics for larger view)

EDIT on 10-6-19: Added updated room layout diagram drawing next to the original 6.1 layout.

Original 6.1 Layout Diagram followed by an updated 11.1.6 (current) diagram and to the right of that the final speaker layout angles below. To the right of those are the two main equipment racks loaded up with gear. Speakers are all PSB brand with mostly matching drivers (PSB Image T45, B15, S50, Imagine X1T and CS500 are used) except the subwoofer which is a 15" model from Def Tech. I use multiple receivers and outboard mixers and processors to add more channels to the base 7.1.4 layout (Dolby Pro Logic "center" extraction creates "top middle" between front and rear heights and mixers create 'matrixed' front wides and surround #2 (basically rear wides for between the 2nd/3rd row of seating). The primary AVR is a Marantz SR7012 with Audyssey Room Correction:



Finished Layout Room Evolution (Star Wars and Tron posters get swapped later for props reasons):


Time for Some Props:




Raiders of the Lost Ark Props (More on the way: Hasbro 1/6 Scale Ark is next):



Even the Bathroom isn't safe! These guys invaded and are up to no good! (Fifth Element Stones with tea cup candle holders on top are on their way for the big shelf on the left side of the bathroom; you know use scented candles in them matching the elements in case someone takes a blast! )

Thanks for viewing my home theater in progress!

I have plans to add a second sub and possibly a 2.35:1 screen with a 4K/3D projector with power zoom memory (currently an Epson 3100 2K/3D projector and 92" 16:9 screen).

I'm looking at getting a "Raven Bar" medallion soon and a Hasbro 1/6 scale Ark of the Covenant is on the way as well and some more "memory orbs" for the Blade Runner 2049 "reader" as well as an alternate crystal ball for the Harry Potter prophesy stand with fading light puck behind it that shows a the Milky Way galaxy in the ball when it lights up (laser engraved).

 

[VonMagnum]

I've added The Ark of the Covenant (1/6 scale) model to the display (moved/swapped Raiders poster with Tron: Legacy one so there's room for all the Raiders props).

 

[VonMagnum]

Added more Staff of Ra Medallions and full sized staff to the home theater room including the MK - Michael Key version of Medallion, which is a parent/older version of the mold that was used by Acme from what I've been able to gather) along with a full sized staff and attachments and the RM "German/Nazi" version of the medallion in Pewter.

 

[Jintosh]

That is a gorgeous ark. I haven't researched it, (lazy today) Can you share where you got it ?

 

[VonMagnum]

That is a gorgeous ark. I haven't researched it, (lazy today) Can you share where you got it ?

Hello,

It was actually made by Hasbro, if you can believe it. It's a 1/6 scale ark and get this, it's made of plastic! Back in 2008, you could only get it if you bought I believe 4 of their Indy dolls and mailed in the proof of purchase plus some amount of money and shipping and handling and they'd mail it to you. It's long out of print, obviously. They pop up on eBay from time to time, some like this one were still new in box (obviously out of box now). Sideshow made a 1/6 scale one too, I believe, but all the reviews I've read said this is the most realistic looking (at least for sale in some form) version ever made (outside the full scale kits if you get them gold plated). I don't know if that's true or not, but it was the best one I could find researching on the Internet short of a full scale kit ($2K-5K depending on finish which you have to typically do yourself and devote a good chunk of a room to it at that). There were a couple on eBay a month or so ago around $300 each. I lost an auction on one weeks before and one said "go ahead and make an offer" so I offered a fair amount less than the asking price (slightly higher than I where I lost the bid on the auction one) and he took it.

I think it may be my favorite single piece, even though it's a scale model and I've clearly got a fetish for those Staff of Ra Medallions (I now own 8 versions plus a lapel pin version and the full staff). It almost sparkles in the display it's so reflective. Of course the lightsaber in the Star Wars display looks sweet lit up in the room and the Harry Potter prophesy crystal ball looks really cool backlit with a 5-color changing light puck hidden behind it, but Raiders was just an awesome movie. I still remember seeing it for the first time at the theater when I was like 6 and half years old back in '81. It had to be among the first 10 movies I ever saw at a movie theater. TRON was my real favorite movie, though, but it lacks collectible cool looking props by comparison.

 

[Jintosh]

I'll have to watch for it. It's really nice.

 

[VonMagnum]

The Fifth Element Stones as tea candle holders (with color matching scented candles added) added to bathroom off home theater room.....

 

[VonMagnum]

New views with props in place of Home Theater Room (yes I know the Katana is upside down in the photo):

 

[19narvik40]

Hot Diggidy Damn, now that is what I call a home theatre !!! I love all the little nuances you've added like the Maltese Falcon (an all time fav) and the Atlantean Sword for Conan (also a huge fav). Watching movies down there must be a real treat.

 

[VonMagnum]

Hot Diggidy Damn, now that is what I call a home theatre !!! I love all the little nuances you've added like the Maltese Falcon (an all time fav) and the Atlantean Sword for Conan (also a huge fav). Watching movies down there must be a real treat.

Thanks. I didn't get much response on AVS for an 11.1.6 system (I think I ticked off a few regulars when I ignored their advice to build slowly/smaller, etc.), but I thought if I'm going to redo the 6.1 home theater, why not go BIG with three rows and comfy recliners for everyone since the room is long. That really spreads the sound effects out for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X (Harry Potter sounds amazing in DTS:X, for example with brooms and cars flying overhead, etc.) The screen could be better. I'm really thinking about a tensioned 2.35:1 one in the next year or so with a powered zoom projector. That would be huge from the front row (9 feet away from a 115" ultra-wide screen you'd have to turn your head to see everything practically or sit in the second row).

As for the Maltese Falcon, that was one of the first props I ordered (after the original cheaper Hellraiser cube version I used to have upstairs and do again once I got the real mahogany version with brass inlays). Humphrey Bogart is my favorite actor. I've got 72 of his movies (all the ones I can find) out of 75 (not counting cameos playing himself). Two are just short clips. One should be somewhere (Fox title that no one wants to release, it seems). The Maltese Falcon is one of my favorites, along with The Big Sleep, Across the Pacific and Dead Reckoning (hard to pick just one, really).

I've kind of run out of room for props, though. I don't want to cram so much it looks tacky. I did, however, want to get a TRON Recognizer NEON Sign to hang in the back of the room behind the 3rd row center chair against the blackout drapes there (and tie it to my RF remotes to light up with the crystal ball and Blade Runner 2049 memory orb reader (now with a MIB style galaxy sphere available too), but I realized that's a sliding glass door back there (original back of the house before an addition was constructed) and opening/closing the door could cause real problems for a neon sign hanging against it. I tried to find a place that could make the Recognizer neon sign as it appears in Flynn's office (self-contained unit where the sign sits on top of the transformer box itself) that I could put on the outboard fireplace, but so far they've turned it down (no idea why) as I'd probably pay more for a smaller sign than the one they sell. This is the neon sign I'm talking about from the movie:

 

[VonMagnum]

I realized I forgot to post a photo of my newer laser etched "sphere" to display on the "Memory Orb Reader" (light base) I use with the Blade Runner 2049 orbs. This one reminds me of the galaxy necklace piece from Men In Black. It's not exact, but it's darn cool looking on that light base.

 

[VonMagnum]

Added new Relicmaker Staff of Ra "Imam" version to the Indiana Jones display in the back of the theater (1st medallion on the left side of the ark with the "Raven Bar" version to its left. The right side is the Acme Artifact version, Relicmaker "Belloq" version and an Egyptian Horus necklace with the same basic design that the medallion was based on (couldn't find a reproduction of the medallion form) for the movie. On the far left is also a reproduction of the "fertility idol" from the beginning of the movie. Closeups follow of the new RM medallion.

 

[VonMagnum]

Hmmmm, is my theater layout largely in accordance with the symmetry of the Staff of Ra Headpiece? Not quite, but oddly close.... (given I drew the layout in Photoshop before ever buying my first headpiece; If I had stretched the bubbles slightly differently..... )

 

[VonMagnum]

It would seem the Ark of the Covenant isn't just full of sand after all (you just have to know how to open it correctly to avoid the WRATH .... )

 

[Jintosh]

Let's see (without looking it up) The ten commandments, and the branch would be manna. What's the pot looking thing ?

-- edit --

Oops. (after looking them up)

The pot has the manna in it.
And the stick is Aaron's Rod.

 

[VonMagnum]

Let's see (without looking it up) The ten commandments, and the branch would be manna. What's the pot looking thing ?

-- edit --

Oops. (after looking them up)

The pot has the manna in it.
And the stick is Aaron's Rod.

Yeah, that "manna" looks a lot like rice pudding to me. I'm on a low carb diet right now. I could go for some rice pudding in a big way.

My brother said I couldn't fit the ten commandment tablets in that little thing. I had to prove him wrong... (I also told him I shrunk the real one down with an Acme brand shrink ray so.... I'm not very reliable with accurate information).

 

[Jintosh]

I really want this ark since they don't come up very often. But $350 on eBay ? Anybody want to buy the ark for me in exchange for $450 retail value of John Wick coins ? (30 coins)

 

[VonMagnum]

I really want this ark since they don't come up very often. But $350 on eBay ? Anybody want to buy the ark for me in exchange for $450 retail value of John Wick coins ? (30 coins)

It DOES say "or best offer" there. The one I bought was asking $300 or best offer. I offered $200. He took it. I almost got one on auction for $173 (second highest bidder; of course I have no idea what the other guy's upper limit was, but he got it for $175). I doubt you'd pick one up for much less than that, but you never know. I think even if you got it when it was new (2008), you still had to buy four 1/6 scale Indiana Jones dolls plus I think $30. I think that would have been at least $130 at the time (although you could sell the dolls afterward).

I wouldn't say they they don't come up very often, necessarily. There were FOUR of them on there at the time I was looking a couple of months ago. I bid on the one, lost it. There were two others at $300 each (one with 'best offer' I ended up buying at $200) and another that came with a ton of extras that go with the 1/6 scale dolls, etc. (miniature fertility idols, plastic snakes, even a small crystal skull) and he wanted even more (forget how much, but I wasn't paying it for those extra little trinkets).

The only thing that put me off a bit for the going price was it's made of plastic. But Sideshow had a 1/4 scale version (noticeably larger) and I gather it was $250 new (wish I knew about it as I'd probably have grabbed one of those two back then; it also weighs 12 pounds and has the correct cloth carrying bits in the middle of the handles), but honestly, its finish looked FLAT (like flat gold paint flat). What I like about the Hasbro one is that it looks as shiny as the one in the movie. It just looks stunning with an accent light on it.

There were a few people on a forum that were talking about plating the Sideshow version to give it a true polished gold sheen. I don't know what that would cost and if it went wrong, ouch. I've seen at least one full size ark 'kit' plated in gold on a YouTube video and while he said it had some flaws, it looked STUNNING in the video to my eyes. I think with the kit, that'd be at least $5000-7000, though. OUCH. Plus you'd need a room just for it, almost to do it justice. I've got a room right behind my theater that I've been thinking of turning into an arcade and candy stand and ticket counter, but walking into a Tabernacle recreation with a full sized Ark would be something else...but then what do you do with it other than STARE at it?

Well, I guess you could rig it to let out smoke and lights if someone tried to remove the lid and scare the crap out of them.

I any case, out of all the props I have in my home theater room and despite it being a scale model, I still think it's my favorite prop. It's just stunning looking (and I paid nearly $300 for a Relicmaker "Imam" medallion, which is my most expensive single piece...we won't talk about the price of buying NINE full sized medallions).

 

[Jintosh]

My money is tied up for a while. Unless someone wants to do the coin deal, I'll just wait till the future when I have more money.
It's hard to pass it up when it's available right now....

 

[Chimera59]

I realized I forgot to post a photo of my newer laser etched "sphere" to display on the "Memory Orb Reader" (light base) I use with the Blade Runner 2049 orbs. This one reminds me of the galaxy necklace piece from Men In Black. It's not exact, but it's darn cool looking on that light base.

View attachment 1024546

I got one really well made via a kick starter
from Cinks-Labs!

The kick starter worked and you can now purchase from them, there is different models (milky way, universe...)and lighted basis as well

Im extremely pleased with mine!

Cheers
Francois